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A review by its_naman
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Let me begin by saying that I understand that this book may not have been written for me. I like stories that are grounded, focus on the human psyche, its complexities and beauties. Six of Crows had a slow and confusing start, in my opinion. I was completely unfamiliar with the Grishaverse or the world building. But once the things started making sense, I was hooked.
At first, the characters seemed to be shallow and insufferable. But once we were presented with their backstories, I could understand their actions better, especially Kaz's. Also, I think it greatly helped that the book was written from multiple POVs. It really helped me to warm my feelings for everyone. (I initially wanted Nina and Matthias to just kill each other so that they can be done with their drama and let the plot progress.)
The story has a lot of tense moments which completely grab your attention. However, that, according to me, does not eventually work out in its favour. The first time I saw Kaz in danger, I couldn't wait to see how he got out of this mess. I was very impressed with the way he saved himself. Since that incident, everytime a character was involved in a life threatening situation, (a) it was revealed that it was actually a part of the plan, (b) their homies would magically appear from nowhere to save them. What I initially found genius had me rolling my eyes later. So, when a character I liked was just about to die and survived by some miracle for the 416th time, I found myself whispering 'Oh, please.' in exasperation.
I'd say this would have been a great read if Leigh Bardugo hadn't put the characters in dangers every 2 pages and found a way to rescue them 2 paragraphs later. The pacing, however, is great. Despite this book being longer than my average reads, it never dragged. The characters are complex and lovable.
At first, the characters seemed to be shallow and insufferable. But once we were presented with their backstories, I could understand their actions better, especially Kaz's. Also, I think it greatly helped that the book was written from multiple POVs. It really helped me to warm my feelings for everyone. (I initially wanted Nina and Matthias to just kill each other so that they can be done with their drama and let the plot progress.)
The story has a lot of tense moments which completely grab your attention. However, that, according to me, does not eventually work out in its favour. The first time I saw Kaz in danger, I couldn't wait to see how he got out of this mess. I was very impressed with the way he saved himself. Since that incident, everytime a character was involved in a life threatening situation, (a) it was revealed that it was actually a part of the plan, (b) their homies would magically appear from nowhere to save them. What I initially found genius had me rolling my eyes later. So, when a character I liked was just about to die and survived by some miracle for the 416th time, I found myself whispering 'Oh, please.' in exasperation.
I'd say this would have been a great read if Leigh Bardugo hadn't put the characters in dangers every 2 pages and found a way to rescue them 2 paragraphs later. The pacing, however, is great. Despite this book being longer than my average reads, it never dragged. The characters are complex and lovable.